The Top 25 Best Costume Design Winners So Far (Updated for 2026)

We’ve got another one, folks. Continuing with a tradition I’ve been keen on for years, I’m ranking the new crop of Academy Award winners. For nearly all of the Oscar categories, you’ll see me list the top 25 recipients of that prize. Sometimes, our newest winner will appear. Other times, they’ll be relegated to the Honorable Mention category. Who knows, maybe one or two won’t even make the cut? It’s a list series that I’ll do each and every single year, in the weeks after the ceremony concludes. So, while this is a fun way to think about the Oscars in the aftermath of the latest telecast, it’s also a beginning for another column here on the site. Of course, definitely show us your own lists as well, in the comments section below. We’re definitely keen to know what you think!

This time around, it’s the Best Costume Design field. If I’m being honest, the nominees and winners in Costume Design are rarely my favorite films. As you might imagine, costume dramas and period pieces dominate the ranks. That being said, there are some exceptions like Black Panther (all hail Ruth E. Carter) and Star Wars (my personal favorite of the lot), for example. Some of the winners, whether I personally love them or not, are absolutely iconic. So, there’s no denying the staying power that a few of these victors have on their side. Where does the latest winner in the category, Frankenstein, rank? What about last year’s winner in Wicked? Or, how about the prior winners like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Cruella, and Poor Things? Find out below…

Here are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Costume Design Oscar, to date:

25. Cleopatra
24. Barry Lyndon
23. Memoirs of a Geisha
22. Cruella
21. Marie Antoniette
20. Ran
19. Mad Max: Fury Road
18. Wicked
17. Bugsy
16. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
15. The Great Gatsby (2013)
14. Bram Stoker’s Dracula
13. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
12. Poor Things
11. Black Panther
10. Shakespeare in Love
9. The Age of Innocence
8. Titanic
7. Gladiator
6. Phantom Thread
5. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
4. All That Jazz
3. The Last Emperor
2. Chicago
1. Star Wars

Honorable Mention: The Aviator, Ben-Hur, Chariots of Fire, Frankenstein, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Stay tuned for another category early next week!